Leytonstone tube station
Central line · Zones 3 and 4 · Waltham Forest
About Leytonstone station
Trains first called here on 22 August 1856, the day the Eastern Counties Railway opened its line from Loughton Branch Junction to Loughton. The station passed to the Great Eastern Railway from 1862 and to the London & North Eastern Railway in 1923. Under the 1935–1940 New Works Programme it was to be rebuilt completely as the junction between the newly electrified line to Epping and Ongar and a new tube tunnel running under Eastern Avenue towards Newbury Park, with the Church Lane level crossing replaced by an underbridge. Work stopped in May 1940, and a German bomb hit the station buildings in January 1944. Meanwhile the unfinished tunnels became an aircraft component factory, and the section nearest Leytonstone served as a public air-raid shelter.
The Central line finally arrived on 5 May 1947. For a few months Leytonstone was its temporary terminus, with passengers changing to a steam shuttle for Epping, until Underground services reached Woodford and Newbury Park on 14 December 1947. It remains the point where the line divides, towards Snaresbrook on the direct route or Wanstead on the Hainault loop, and some trains terminate here. The station also honours the film director Alfred Hitchcock, born in Leytonstone on 13 August 1899, with a series of mosaics of his life and works, unveiled on 3 May 2001.
First and last trains from Leytonstone
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central towards West Ruislip, Ealing Broadway or White City | 05:32 – 00:07 | 05:32 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:24 to Ealing Broadway |
| Central towards Hainault, Epping or Loughton | 05:36 to Epping – 00:58 | 05:36 to Epping – all night | 24 hours | all night – 00:06 |
Times are TfL’s published timetable departures from this station; on Saturday the list follows TfL’s “Saturdays and public holidays” timetable.
At the busiest hour on a weekday there are up to 30 Central trains an hour per direction from Leytonstone, counting both directions separately.
Connections
Leytonstone is served by the Central line only; there is no interchange with other rail lines here.
Station facilities
What is near Leytonstone station
Leytonstone station has its own bus station alongside, and Whipps Cross University Hospital is close by. On foot, LibraryPlus Leytonstone and The Stone Space gallery are both about 160 m away, while the memorial to the Bearmans Department Store and the Church Lane Community Garden are each around 220 m from the station. Church Lane is also where the old level crossing stood before the 1940s rebuilding replaced it with an underbridge.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| LibraryPlus Leytonstone | 160 m |
| The Stone Space | 160 m |
| Bearmans Department Store (memorial) | 220 m |
| Church Lane Community Garden | 220 m |
Frequently asked questions
Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone on 13 August 1899. To mark the centenary of his birth, the London Borough of Waltham Forest commissioned the Greenwich Mural Workshop to create a series of mosaics of his life and films inside the station. Work began in June 2000 and the mosaics were unveiled on 3 May 2001.
Construction of the new tube tunnel towards Newbury Park stopped in May 1940 because of wartime priorities. The unfinished tunnels were turned into an aircraft component factory, and the part closest to Leytonstone became a public air-raid shelter. Central line trains only began serving the station on 5 May 1947.